• Are you eligible to use the Library?
• What do I need to bring with me?
• Checking the Library's catalogue before travelling
• Ordering items in advance
• Going to the right Library site
• Obtaining a Library pass/Renewing a Library pass
• Lost, stolen or forgotten Library cards for external users
• Photocopying
• Electronic resources and computing facilities

Please note that it is not possible to register for access to UCL Libraries at the UCL Science Library after 1700 Monday to Friday or at weekends. Please visit one of our other Library sites to register (see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/sites.shtml for details of alternative sites).

Please consult the separate Membership web pages to find out whether or not you are entitled to use the Library.

All non-UCL users (including UCL Alumni) applying for access to UCL Library Services must produce:

• proof of address (home and institutional, where relevant) AND
• photographic proof of identity AND
• credentials to indicate status / eligibility for library use (e.g. SCONUL Access Band 'A' card, UCL Alumni Association card), when making their application

Acceptable proof of identity is:

1. Valid photocard driving licence
2. Valid passport
3. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from another Higher Education Institution
4. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from an M25 scheme affiliated Institution
5. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from one of UCL's affiliated NHS trusts
6. Valid British Library ID card

Acceptable proof of institutional address is:

1. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from another Higher Education Institution
2. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from an M25 scheme affiliated Institution
3. Institutional ID, including the bearer's photo, from one of UCL's affiliated NHS trusts

Acceptable proof of home address is:

1. Recent utility / council tax bill (no more than three months old)
2. Recent bank statement (no more than three months old)
3. Valid photocard driving licence

Applications will not be accepted without sufficient proof of identity and address. One form of ID can fill more than one role (eg. a photocard driving licence is acceptable both as proof of identity and address). Documents present must be the originals (photocopies are not acceptable). Please note that if your status and eligibility is not clear from the presented documentation, you will be asked to produce additional credentials to confirm (eg. official enrolment certificate from one's home institution). This includes students from other Universities where the department and/or degree studied are not indicated on the Student ID card.

Users applying for borrowing access must also provide a passport sized photograph. This is used to make up your Library card.

Please check the Library's online catalogue eUCLid before travelling to ensure that we have the material you require, whether it has to be ordered in advance and that you know which Library site to visit.

When you search for a book on eUCLid, the results displayed will tell you at which site the item is held and whether or not it is currently out on loan.

So, for example, "Main (1/0)" means that the book is held in the Main Library and that we have one copy, but none are out on loan i.e. it should be available. "Science (2/1)" would mean that two copies are held in the Science Library and that someone has borrowed one, and so on.

Any book or journal with the shelfmark Store must be ordered 1-2 working days in advance. This can be done online using the store request form. You do not have to have already joined to make a request.

UCL Library Services consists of a number of different sites. Most, but not all, are within walking distance of the main UCL campus. Maps and local opening hours are available.

When you arrive at the Library, you must first register and obtain a Library pass. This can be done at whichever Library site you intend to visit (see above). It is not necessary to arrange your visit in advance or to let us know that you are planning to visit unless you are intending to join on a paying basis for more than a month, in which case you must contact the Head of Membership first.

Your first visit must be made during Issue Desk opening hours or Main Library Information Point opening hours. However, please note that registration is not possible at the Science Library at weekends or after 1700 during the week, even though the issue desks are open. At other sites, Membership Services will be provided where possible after 1700 and at weekends but should be considered “at” risk. It is strongly recommended that users visit between 0930 and 1700 Monday to Thursday or between 1000-1700 on Friday when attempting to register.

Please make sure that you have all relevant documentation with you, confirming your identity, address and eligibility / status – please see What do I need to bring with me section above for details. If you are joining on the basis that you are from another university, or you are a member of an organisation which has an arrangement with UCL, the onus is on you to bring clear proof of this. You may be refused access if your status and eligibility is not clear from the presented credentials.

In particular, if you are a research postgraduate please make sure that the ID you bring clearly indicates your research status, as PhD and MPhil students are entitled to different library privileges from taught-course students. If this is not clear from your student ID card, you are advised to bring a SCONUL Access Band A card from your home institution.

Your UCL Library card is important - please take care of it. You will not be admitted without it and you will be charged for its replacement.

From 24th September 2007, UCL Library Services will charge a fee of £7.00 for the replacement of all Library only ID cards, reference or borrowing, that have been lost, forgotten or otherwise misplaced.

Note - Unless you belong to a category of user that must pay for access, no charge is made for the initial registration, only for the replacement of lost / forgotten ID cards. Replacement charges are not levied for the replacement of cards that have expired or are within one calendar month of expiry. Also, if a card has become damaged but can be returned to the Library, it will be replaced without charge.

Visitors to the Library can make photocopies. To do this you must buy a rechargeable card costing £1.00. Copying credits cost 5p a copy.

Please bring £1 coins to operate the photocopy card dispenser and small change to add credit to it. We are not able to provide change for you.

Further information about photocopying, including Colour photocopying, is available.

For licensing reasons, non-UCL members cannot consult UCL Library Services' electronic resources offsite, but we do have a number of dedicated terminals, "eAccess points", from which certain resources can be accessed.

Pages may be printed, subject to copyright restrictions, and subject to the scale of charges in place at the time (which may differ between library sites). It is also possible, again subject to copyright restrictions, to save copies of documents to a USB storage device (for more details, see the Terms of access).

Please note that the printing facility is only available when the site's Issue Desk is open.

To see which Electronic Journals may be accessed through the service, visit the e-Access service listings.

To see which Electronic Books may be accessed through the service, search the Library Catalogue by title, author or subject and select material type 'Electronic Books'.

There is also a list of bibliographic databases and other resources which may be accessed through the service. Please note that the available resources are only those shown on the first screen after clicking the link here. If you then click any of the A-Z links, for example, you will be taken into the normal MetaLib interface and will no longer see only e-Access service resources.

There are no PCs available for general use or internet access.

It is possible to bring a laptop into the Library with you.

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Last modified 28 March 2012